Supermoto Japan R5 Hiroshima

Supermoto Japan Round 5 was held on August 6th and 7th at the TS Takata circuit in Hiroshima.

Both days were sunny, humid and hot which is typical summer weather in Japan.

10 riders were from Motorcycle shop Dune★Moto in Kumamoto

that suffered great damage from the Kumamoto earthquake.

CEO of Dune★Moto Mr.Kawakami said,

“Recovery from the earthquake disaster isn’t yet complete, but we must ride a motorcycles.”

I like watching the time attack.

Because all the riders show intense riding in order to notch the best time.

They have to demonstrate a different ability than in the final race.

And of course there is drama in the time attack.

#4 Makoto Arai notched the best time in the time attack. His machine is a Husqvarna FS450.

Veteran rider #2 Ikki Morita placed 2nd with his Suzuki RM-Z450.

These two were remarkably fast.

#9 Ryo Shirotori was 2 seconds slower than #4 Arai even though he placed 3rd.

#4 Makoto Arai is 18 years old and he is Yasushi Matsumoto a.k.a Yassy’s apprentice.

His riding style is decisive.

He accelerated as if it wasn’t already enough and let his machine go wherever it wanted,

putting his body along with it.

I’ve known him since he was a little. We rode on mountains and circuit together.

I once slacked off on purpose so that we could battle closely in circuit.

He is a top rider that represents Japan now.

#2 Ikki Morita became a super veteran. His generation developed Japanese supermoto.

He used to be a top rider in All Japan motocross then changed to supermoto.

Ikki used to be on a commercial photo of the SUZUKI DR-Z400. That picture of dynamic sliding.

This battle was the super young teenager versus the veteran.

#2 Ikki and #4 Makoto chatting before start.

#2 Ikki Morita grabbed the holeshot.

He took the lead easily even though he was the 2nd on the starting grid.

#2 Ikki kept the lead.

Even though he was 2nd in the time attack there is only a split second difference.

They have to notch fast times constantly during the race.

And they have to be mentally strong because there is a lot of pressure from being chased.

You can say the same thing of the Olympics, a person who can grab victories has to have the mental strength.

Everybody make mistakes even though they have said it is natural to win despite being under pressure…

It is really amazing to win in those situations!

#4 Makoto was doing great in the tarmac section.

He is really good in this area that has many complicated corners and he started catching #2 Ikki’s rear.

In the middle of the race he finally took the lead under braking to enter the dirt section.

The entrance of this dirt section is really slippery with a lot of rocks and #4 Makoto made a move.

#4 Makoto and #2 Ikki in the 6th corner.

#4 Makoto says,

“I was aiming for that point all entire time. I was a bit surprised that I took the lead easily.”

#4 Makoto came out in front of #2 Ikki then went faster in the tarmac section.

#2 Ikki follows him like, “I’m not going to let this young boy

who has become a proper rider over this past two to three years.”

They might seem as if they riding indifferently.

But there was a high level furious battle with pride at stake.

These two don’t play dirty by bumping into others or crossing the line to make a feint.

Of course the results are important but they really care about ideal riding that they thought out before the race.

Their speed on a hill after the 3rd corner was unbelievable. It felt like they were flying away.

#2 Ikki chases and gets close but he can’t attack #4 Makoto.

#4 Makoto Arai won the battle with the veteran.

This is the second victory this season.

He said,

“I’m good at this Hiroshima.

I can see Yasshi (Yasushi Matsumoto) and Ryuta (Ryuta Kaneko is from Nagano, same as him) while riding.”

#4 Makoto won Race 2 as well.

He grabbed the holeshot and dodged #2 Ikki’s attack on him in the dirt section

and ran ahead of #2 Ikki until the checkered flag.

He notched a better time than in the time attack which was his goal in the final race.

He won Race 1 and Race 2 and grabbed the overall victory.

#2 Ikki couldn’t catch Makoto even though he changed his suspension setting to go faster in the tarmac section in Race 2.

#2 Ikki Morita placed 2nd in Race 1 and 2 and second overall.

#9 Ryo Shirotori placed 3rd in Race 1 and Race 2.

He is only 17 years old and bloomed this year.

He is participating in foreign races.

#5 Shinji Kaneko placed 4th overall.

He is 56 years old this year and a rider on the active list.

It seems like he regrets losing to #9 Ryo from the same team.

#10 Toshiyuki Kaneko placed 5th overall. Race 1/5th Race 2/6th

#21 Yoshifumi Kawakami placed 6th overall. Race1/8th Race2/5th

The next round, R6, will be held on August 27th and 28th at Sportsland SUGO.

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